Application Materials
- Composer: Three contrasting compositions - uptempo, comedy song, ballad. Please include copy of score which includes lyrics.
- Lyricist: Three contrasting lyrics in PDF format - uptempo, comedy song, ballad.
- Composer/Lyricist: Three contrasting songs - uptempo, comedy song, ballad. Please include copy of score which includes lyrics.
Note that if you apply as a composer and a lyricist, you will be accepted as one or the other (that is, as either a composer or a lyricist) and you will be assigned different collaborators over the course of the year. If you apply as both a composer/lyricist and a librettist and are accepted as both, you will spend your first year as a composer/lyricist only, as the two groups meet at the same time.
Auditions
Select applicants will be invited to audition in September. Librettist are accepted on the basis of their written materials and are not required to audition.
At the auditions, composers and composer/lyricists will be asked to perform at least two contrasting theatrical compositions; lyricists will be asked to recite samples of their theatrical lyrics. All auditions must be done live, using a piano.
Please note that all prospective participants must be fully vaccinated to audition and plan to live in the New York City area for an easy weekly commute and collaborations outside of the Workshop.
Program upon Acceptance
The Workshop normally runs September through June in New York City. Prospective members must make their own living arrangements in the city or be able to commute weekly.
During the first year, composers and lyricists are paired off and are asked to create appropriate songs based on scenes from various sources. The writers perform their assignments, which are then discussed by the other writers and the moderators. There are analyses and discussions of current and past musicals, with an eye to understanding form and structure. Every effort is made to insure that each writer retains his or her individual style.
In the Workshop’s final phase (Second Year), teams work on a musical. The Workshop functions as a forum and a sounding board for works in progress, as music and lyrics are critically evaluated and open dialogue is encouraged.
At the end of each Second Year, the Workshop Committee determines which writers from the group are invited to join the Advanced Workshop. Not everyone is asked. This Workshop is intended for writers of professional caliber who are expected to contribute to the vitality of the musical theatre scene.
Schedule
The First Year Workshop meets Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m. The first class this year is expected to be on Wednesday, September 18.
Musical Theatre Bookwriting Basics
This nine-month course explores the fundamentals of writing book for the musical theatre.
Drama Desk Award winning bookwriter Adam Mathias (he/him) unlocks the toolkit for musical theatre librettists. Through lecture, discussion, and assignments students learn how to apply the fundamentals of playwriting to the craft of creating musicals. As a class, writers deep-dive into the DNA of the musical theatre canon — from the Golden Age through today — dissecting what works and why and then applying it to their own work.
Applicants should have a book-musical project in mind to develop over the course of the year; this musical could be anywhere from an early concept to an early draft.
The course runs September through May in New York City, Covid restrictions permitting. Prospective members should live in the city or be able to commute weekly.
Librettists Workshop
After completing the Bookwriting Basics program, writers may apply to join the established Librettists Workshop group. Not all writers who apply will be invited to join.
Nancy Golladay, veteran Broadway literary manager and dramaturg, moderates a writers’ roundtable focused on developing the skills unique to musical theatre bookwriters. Members read and critique each other’s work as their material evolves from one-page synopses to fully scripted scenes — including occasional cold readings of an entire show. In a yearly collaborative project, the Librettists Workshop engages with the First Year Songwriting Class. Librettist Workshop members are also eligible to participate in Collaborator Connections events with members of the Songwriters Workshops.
Application
Applicants must submit two writing samples, at least one of which must include comedic content.
Either or both samples could be:
- a 10-page or longer excerpt from a script or other genre
- a complete one-act
- a full-length script
Any of these may be in-progress, produced and/or published material.
Scripts from genres other than playscripts or musical theatre scripts are also acceptable; however, theatrical comedy scenes are preferred to stand-up or sketch material.
In addition, writers must include a bio or resume.
Schedule
Musical Theatre Bookwriting Basics — Tuesdays 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.
Librettists Workshop — Mondays 6:15 - 8:15 p.m.
All sessions take place at the BMI Offices in lower Manhattan from September through May. All prospective members must arrange to live in the greater New York City area or be able to commute weekly September through May. Please do not apply if this is not possible for you.
Applications must be submitted by June 1st.
The Faculty
Nancy Golladay
Nancy has served as a literary consultant with the New York Shakespeare Festival, Paul Sills, the O'Neill Playwrights Conference, Ellis Rabb, Warner Brothers Films, Punch Productions, the Nederlander Organization, Tenterfield Productions, the La Jolla Playhouse, the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, and Davenport Theatrical. Nancy was actively involved in the founding of the U.K.'s Book, Music, and Lyrics (BML) Workshop, a group focused on the development of musical theatre writers and choreographers. She was an invited speaker at Mercury Musical Developments writers' conference in London, and appeared on the original Dramatists Guild "Art of the Synopsis" panel in New York. After joining the Workshop as a Librettist member herself, Nancy has served for many years on the Drama League/Drama Desk/Tony-Honored BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop as a member of its faculty and Advisory Committee as Moderator of the Librettists Workshop. In recent years, she has created a popular program of in-house table readings of its members' new projects.
Adam Mathias (he/him)
Adam received the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book, the Richard Rodgers Award, and the Jerry Bock Award for See Rock City & Other Destinations (Brad Alexander, composer — Off-Broadway Cast Recording on Yellow Sound Label, licensed by Samuel French.) Adam’s musical history of Fire Island, A History of Summer (Jonathan Monro, composer) has been seen in Toronto (Summerworks) and Chicago (Pride Films & Plays). A graduate of the DePaul University Theatre School (BFA, playwriting) and NYU Tisch (MFA, musical theatre writing), Adam has been a member of the BMI Workshop since 2002.
Fees
There is no fee to apply for or participate in the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop.
Please note that Workshop participants will be charged $43.55 for a 7 WTC identification badge.
Apply
The Workshop application process is now closed until summer 2025.
The Workshop application process is now open.